Golf club carrier



March 25, 1952 c. E. BURNS GOLF CLUB CARRIER 2 SHEETS--SHEET 1 Filed Dec. 17, 1948 March 25, 1952 Filed Dec. 17, 1948 C. E. BURNS GOLF CLUB CARRIER 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 INVENTOR Patented Mar. 25, 1952 GOLF CLUB CARRIER Cloyd E. Burns, Fort Pierce, Fla.; May Burns exe'cutrix of said Cloyd E. Burns, deceased Application December 17, 1948, Serial N 0. 65,821

'9 Claims.

This invention relates to golf club holders and an object is to provide a holder which may be either lifted and carried or pulled by a golfer, as may be desired, with a minimum of effort, which may be stood upright in a stable position to enable the clubs to be selectively removed and replaced, which will elfect'ively confine the clubs thereto while the carrier is being transported, which will hold the clubs in a position for all to be conveniently and easily reached and removed or replaced, which takes the place of a golf bag, and is exceptionally light in weight, relatively compact, simple, sturd and'inexpensive in construction, and convenient in use.

Various other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description of one embodiment of the invention, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out hereinafter in connection with the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective of a club carrier constructed in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional elevation of the same, the section being taken approximately along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation, on a slightly larger scale, of a part of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an elevation of a part of the carrier, with parts broken away;

Fig. 5 is a perspective of the carrier encased in its protective housing; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective of another embodiment of the invention.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to, 5 the carrier includes a base I which may be formed of sheet material, such as a strip of metal folded upon itself into an open-sided box, as shown in Fig. 1. The lower plate or wall of this-base is provided on its upper face with blocks 2 having recesses or depressions 3 in their upper faces which may receive and hold the heads 4 of golf clubs, with the shanks 5 of the clubs upstanding from the base I. The upper wall or plate 6 of the base is cut away on one edge as at I, so that it is not as wide from open side to open side of the base as is the lower plate. The upper and lower plates of this base are spaced from each other, and serve as club head supports. Blocks 2 with recesses 3 are also provided on this upper p1ate6 in order to support the heads 4 of golf clubs in a similar manner.

A U-shaped handle 3 is disposed in inverted position over the base, with the free ends of the arms of the U passing downwardly through apertures 9 in the upper plate 6 of the base I and along the inside face of the ends of the base, as shown clearly at the right of the base in Fig. 1. The lower ends of this handle 8 are welded, bolted, screwed or otherwise secured to the base I so as to form a rigid upstanding extension thereof. This U-shaped handle 8 is preferably formed of tubing such as of light metal or plastic which is bent into or formed U-sh-aped.

A cross member ID extends between the arms of the handle, intermediate of its height, and is securely anchored thereon. This cross member includes upper and lower plates II and I2 :of rigid material which are secured to handle 8 and have apertures at their ends through which the arms of the handle 8 extend. Resilient clamping means is carried by the plates II and I2 to detachably grip and hold the shanks of the 11pstanding golf clubs, and while these may be spring clamps, the illustrated example employs a plate I3 of flexible distortable, resilient material such as resilient or live rubber, and this plate I3 is clamped together between the plates I I or l2 in any suitable manner such as by rivets I4. The plate I3 is wider than the plates I I and I2, so that there will be a free strip or flange along each side of the cross member If! which is free to flex and change its shape.

The exposed strip of the plate 13 along each side of the superposed clamping plates II and I2, is provided with a plurality of apertures I5 extending from face to face of the plate at a distance inwardly from the free side edge of the plate I3. These apertures I5 are arranged in spaced relation to each other in a row along the exposed side edge, and also are arranged inwardly from that free edge. These apertures I5 have a size equal to or slightly larger than the cross sectional size of the shanks of golf clubs which one may desire to pass therethrough. Each of these apertures I5 is connected with the adjacent free edge of the plate by a. slot I6 which is of less width than the diameters of the shanks of golf clubs, and of course lesser in width than the diameter of each aperture I5.

The shank of any golf club may be forced through a slot I6 into or out of a related aperture I5, as shown in Fig. 1, the material or rubber of which the plate|3 is made being deformed or stretched at the slots I6 suflic'iently to pass the shank of the golf club into or out of the larger aperture I5. Thus when one desires to mount a golf club on this carrier, the head is placed in one of the grooves or depressions 3 on either plate of the base with the shank of the club upstanding, and then the shank of the club is moved toward the cross member ID and forced through a slot I6 into an aperture I which is approximately directly above the groove, depression or cavity 3 in which the head of the club is disposed. To remove any club, one merely grasps the upper end of that club and pulls it away from the cross member I8, which stretches or distorts the rubber or material of the plate I3 at the slot I6 so that the shank of the club may pass out of that aperture I5.

Guards H are hinged to opposite open sides of the base by pivot pins I8 (Fig. 1) which pass through apertures in the arms of the guards I'I I1 and also through the upstanding ends of the base I. The hinge pins I8 are close to the bottom of the base I and each guard swings from an upright position, such as shown in Fig. I, downwardly away from the clubs or the handle 8 into a position, shown by dot and dash lines in Fig. 2, in which these guards I1 extend approximately horizontally from the lower part of the base and engage the ground on which the base I is resting.

A rod I9 extends loosely and vertically through the cross member ID, approximately midway of its length, and at its upper end carries an operating button immediately below the upper end of the handle 8. The lower end of the rod I9 is hinged by a pin 2I to the ends of links 22 which diverge downwardly from the pin 2 I. Each of the links 22 terminates in a sleeve 23 which is rotatably mounted on a cross rod 24 of a guard I'I. When the rod I9 is pulled upwardly into the full line position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, it will act through the links 22 to pull the guards I'I upwardly into the upstanding positions shown in full lines in Figs. 1 and 2, and hold them in that position in which the guards extend transversely past the upstanding shanks of the golf clubs 5 and confine them to the carrier, as shown clearly in Figs. 1 and 2.

With the lower ends of the golf clubs held in place by the guards I1 and recesses 3, and the upper parts held in the apertures l5 in the rubber plate I3, the clubs will be held in their assigned positions even though the base may be carried about or tilted into different positions. The rod I9 is provided, in one side thereof, with two notches 25 spaced apart along its length and engageable with the edge of the aperture in plate II through which the rod passes, at its upper and lower limits of movement. The engagement of either notch '25 with the plate II will hold the rod l8 against endwise movement so long as the plate II remains within the notch 25.

A leaf spring 26 is anchored at one end to the plate II in any suitable manner, such as by a rivet 21, and the free end of the spring 26 extends somewhat vertically and bears under stress against the side of rod I9 opposite from notches 25 and yieldingly and resiliently urges the rod I9 sidewise against an aperture edge of the plate II. This prevents the rod I9 from being unintentionally shifted sidewise in a manner to disengage either notch 25 from the plate II. While either notch 25 remains engaged with the plate II, the rod I9 is held against endwise movement and this holds the guards I1 against any swinging movement.

In Fig. 3 the upper notch 25 of the rod I9 is engaged with the plate II, which holds the guards I! in their horizontal or outstanding positions, and in Figs. 1 and 2 the lower notch 25 is engaged with the plate II so as to hold the rod I9 in its upper position in which the guards H are held in upstanding positions. To shift the rod I9 endwise and move the guards I'I, one merely pushes rod I9 sidewise, which would be to the left in Fig. 3, against the action of spring 26 until the notch 25 aligned with plate II is disengaged from the plate II, and then the rod I9 may be shifted endwise until the other notch 25 is aligned and engaged with the plate I I. This shifts the guards II between the full line and the dot and dash line positions shown in Fig. 2.

It will be observed that when the guards Il are in their horizontal positions, shown in Fig. 2 by the dot and dash lines, and are held in that position by engagement of the upper notch '25 with plate I I, these guards engage the ground on which the base I rests and will prop the handle 8 against lateral tilting. This makes it possible to use a base I that is relatively narrow from open side to open side, with resultant compactness and stability.

Secured upon one side of the base I is a rolling support or element 28. Preferably this element 28 is secured to an upstanding side of the base I, so that when the base is tilted over upon that side with the handle 8 above the rolling element 28, the carrier will be supported on the ground entirely by the element 28 and may be pulled or pushed as a cart over the ground with a minimum of effort. This rolling element may be of any desired type, preferably with antifriction bearings, but in the example illustrated,

it is formed with a roller 29 fixed on a shaft 38 that is rotatably supported on hearing arms 3! of a plate 32, which is secured in any desired manner to the upstanding end of the base.

A spring clamp arm 33 is secured at one end to one of the arms of the handle 8 and at its other end it clamps to and holds a tube 34 of a size to receive and hold a plurality of golf balls 35 arranged in a stack therein. Tube 34 may have a removable cover 33 at its upper end, and another removable cover 31 at its lower end. Thus one may remove the cover 36 and deposit the golf balls in the tube 34 at the top, and then remove the lower cover 31 and then remove the golf balls one at a time from the lower end of the tube. Spring clamp arms 38 may also be carried in pairs by either of the arms of the handle 8, at spaced points along the same, so that the arms of each pair may be sprung apart to yieldingly receive and hold any object, such as an umbrella, illustrated by the dot and dash lines at the left in Fig. 1.

The entire device, with the exception of the rolling element 28, may be encased in a fabric housing 39, shown in Fig. 5. This cover 39 is tubular, slides down over the carrier, and at its lower open end is secured to the base I in any suitable manner, such as by snap fasteners (not shown).

It is believed that the use of the device will be obvious from the foregoing description, but it will be briefly summarized. With the fabric cover 39 removed, and the clubs mounted as shown in Fig. 1, the golfer either lifts the carrier, by grasping the upper end of handle 8, and carries it, or else he tilts it into an oblique position relative to the ground, with the handle 8 over the rolling element 28, which could be obtained by tilting the handle to the right and forwardly in Fig. 1. One may then, by grasping the upper end of the handle 8, pull or push the carrier along over the ground. The rolling element 28 reduces to a minimum the effort required to push or pull the device over the ground.

When one reaches the locality on the course where a play is to be made, the carrier is tilted back upright into the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, in which the base rests on the ground, and the wheel 29 may be either in contact with the ground or slightly above it. The rod I.9 is then, by means of the button 20, pushed sidewise (which would be rearwardly and to the left in Fig. 1, and to the left in Figs. *2 and 3) until the lower notch .25 is disengaged from the plate II, and then the rod .19 may be pushed downwardly so .as to swing the guards I7 into their extending or dot and, dash line positions shown in Fig. 2, where the free ends of the guards are .in -;contact with the ground at the opposite sides of the base I. .At this time the upper notch 25 engages with the .plate II, as shown in Fig. 3, which looks the guards I! in these horizontal or extending positions. These guards I1, through the links 22, thus serve to prop "the handle '8 upright, -so that it will not unintentionally tip over.

The movement of the guards I! from the upstanding positions, where they confine the clubs to the base, to the horizontal positions releases the clubs at their lower ends so that one may then grasp the upper end of any club that one desires to use and pull it in a horizontal direction away from the handle 8. The holding means I 3 yields and allows the shank of the club to pass through the slot I'B which has been resiliently holding it to the handle 8. After the play has .been made, the used clubs are replaced in the carrier, with their shanks engaged in apertures in plate I3, and the rod I9 is again shifted to release its upper notch 25 from the plate II, after which the rod I 9 is pulled upwardly, which returns the guards I! to the upstanding positions, until the lower notch 25 re-engages with the plate II. The golfer then grasps the carrier by the upper end of the handle 8, tilts it over the roller element 28 and pushes or pulls it to a new location.

Because of its small number of parts and its skeleton frame, the carrier can be made relatively light in weight, so that the effort required to move it from one place to another will be relatively small. The parts may be made of metal, wood, plastics, or any other suitable material. When .metal is used, it is preferable to use the lighter metals, such as the white metals used in die castin or aluminum or aluminum alloys.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 6, the construction is largely the same as in Figs. -1 to -5, and similar parts have the same reference characters. In Fig. 6 the base 40 is box like, similar to base I of Figs. 1 to 5, except that it has no blocks 2. Instead, the upper wall or plate of the base has a plurality of apertures II, a row along each side of the base, in which the handle ends of the clubs may be received, with the clubs in inverted positions. The shanks of the clubs are passed through slots I6 into and out of apertures I5, as in Figs. 1 to 5. Fabric bags 42 may be secured to the top of the handle to depend therefrom along side of the upper end of 'rod I9. Each bag 42 may have a Zipper con trolled slit or opening 43 in its side to enable access to be had to the interior of each bag. Various articles may be stored in the bags.

In this embodiment of the invention, the rolling element 28 has one long roller 29 on shaft 30 which is rotatably mounted in bearing arms 3i of plate 32. The long roller gives increased surface area to distribute the weight .of the carrier over. a greater area of the ground, whichis a decided advantage when the ground is sandy or soft. On such ground, any smaller rollers would tend to sink in, and greater effort then required to pull the carrier. The .rolling element 28 is also advantageously placed along the longer edge of the base 40 because this makes it possible to employ a longer roller and thus resist more effectively, any tendency of this rolling element to sink vor cut into the ground.

The plate I 3 has been referred to as formed of rubber, and .by the term rubber it is intended to include not only natural rubber, but also all -:of the various so-called synthetic rubbers or rubber substitutes which .have characteristics similar to rubber with respect to stretchability, flexibility and distortability and which will return by their own resiliency to their undistorted or original form when the distorting forces are removed.

It will be noted that this improved holder or carrier makes use of the usual golf bag unnecessary. The carrier or holder is lighter than the usual golf bag and light enough to be picked up in the middle of the U-shaped tube and carried like the usual golf bag over rough or hilly ground or up or down stairs. When the ground is reasonably smooth or level, it may be placed on the ground, tipped over on the roller, and pulled as a roll-along holder. If the ground is soft or sandy, the narrow wheels of carriers heretofore used cut in, whereas the long roller of this improved carrier rides on the top of soft or sandy ground and rolls easily. The parts may be made of light weight metals, plastic or other materials, or various combinations of them.

It will be understood that various changes the details, materials, and arrangement of parts, which have been herein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of the invention, may be made by those skilled in the art, within the principle and scope of the invention, as expressed in the appended claims.

. I claim:

1. A golf club carrier comprising a base having a pair of superposed, vertically spaced, generally horizontal supporting surfaces having depressions in their upper faces of sizes to receive the heads of golf clubs with the shanks of theclubs upright, a U-shaped handle inverted on said base and having the free ends of the arms of the U secured to said base, and with the cross part; of the U at the top and constituting a grip by which the base may be moved, a cross member intermediate said handle and base, and formed to receive and detachably hold the upstanding shanks of the clubs, a pair of guards extending crosswise of the shanks of said clubs and hinged to said base at opposite sides thereof, to swing from upstanding positions in directions away from said handle and club shanks to positions in which they project generally horizontally in opposite directions from said base and engage the ground on which the base rests, and means releasably securing said guards in their generally horizontal positions,

2. A golf club carrier comprising a base having a pair of superposed, vertically spaced, generally horizontal supporting surfaces having depressions in their upper faces of sizes to receive the heads of golf clubs with the shanks of the clubs upright, a U-shaped handle inverted on said base and having the free ends of the arms .of the U secured to said base, and with the cross .part of the 'U at the top and constituting a grip 7 by which the base may be moved, a cross member intermediate said handle and base, and formed to receive and detachably hold the upstanding shanks of the clubs, a pair of guards extending crosswise of the shanks of said clubs and hinged to said base at opposite sides thereof, to swing from upstanding position in directions away from said handle and club shanks to positions in which they project generally horizontally in opposite directions from said base and engage the ground on which the base rests, means releasably securing said guards in their generally horizontal positions, and a rolling element carried by said base at an end thereof adjacent corresponding edges of said guards, and rollingly supporting said base when the base is tilted over upon its end to which said element is attached, into a position oblique to the ground.

3. A golf club carrier comprising a base having a pair of superposed, vertically spaced, generally horizontal supporting surfaces having depressions in their upper faces of sizes to receive the heads of golf clubs with the shanks of the clubs upright, a U-shaped handle inverted on said base and having the free ends of the arms of the U secured to said base, and with the cross part of the U at the top and constituting a grip by which the base may be moved, a cross member intermediate said handle and base, and formed to receive and detachably hold the upstanding shanks of the clubs, a pair of guards extending crosswise of the shanks of said clubs and hinged to said base at opposite sides thereof, to swing from upstanding positions in directions away from said handle and club shanks to positions in which they project generally horizontally in opposite directions from said base and engage the ground on which the base rests, a rod mounted by said cross member for sliding movement vertically and endwise of itself, and links hinged to the lower end of said rod and to said guards and translating endwise movements of said rod into swinging movements of said guards, said rod and cross member having an inter-engagement which releasably holds said rod in the positions it occupies when said guards are in each of their said positions.

4. A golf club carrier comprising a base having a pair of superposed, vertically spaced, generally horizontal supporting surfaces having depressions in their upper faces of sizes to receive the heads of golf clubs with the shanks of the clubs upright, a U-shaped handle inverted on said base and having the free ends of the arms of the U secured to said base, and with the cross part of the U at the top and constituting a grip by which the base may be moved, a cross member intermediate said handle and base, and formed to receive and detachably hold the upstanding shanks of the clubs and guards carried by and upstanding from opposite sides of said base to confine to the base, the lower ends of any upstanding golf clubs that are resting on said base.

5. A golf club carrier comprising a base for receiving and holding the heads of golf clubs with the shanks of the clubs upstanding, a handle carried by the base and upstanding therefrom, a cross member carried by said handle, intermediate of its ends, in a direction transverse to the length of the handle, said member having a plate of flexible distortable rubber with a free edge, said plate having apertures from face to face of widths to receive and hold the shanks of golf clubs, spaced apart in a row extending generally parallel to said free edge but spaced from that edge, and slots of less width than the shanks of golf clubs opening through said free edge from said apertures, but through which the shanks of said clubs may be forced into and out of said apertures, a roller carried by said base at an end thereof and rollingly supporting said base when said handle is tilted over said roller into a position oblique to the ground, and elements carried by said base and shiftable thereon laterally into positions in which they engage the ground and prop the base against tilting while the handle is upright and the base rests on the ground.

6. A golf club carrier comprising a base formed to receive and hold the heads of golf clubs with the shanks of the clubs upstanding, a U-shaped handle inverted on said base, upstanding therefrom and having the free ends of the arms of the U attached to said base, with the cross part of the U at the top and constituting a grip by which the base may be lifted or tilted, a holder carried by said handle for receiving and holding the upstanding shanks of golf clubs whose heads are supported on said base, elements carried by said base and shiftable thereon laterally into and out of positions in which they engage the ground and prop the base against tilting while the handle is upright and the base rests on the ground.

'7. A golf club carrier comprising a box-like base formed to receive and hold ends of golf clubs, with the shanks of the clubs approximately vertical, a U-shaped handle inverted on said base and attached thereto at its lower end, with the cross part of the U at the top and constituting a grip by which the base may be lifted, tilted, or pulled, a holder carried by said handle and extending between the sides of the U just below the handle grip, said holder having a plate of resilient rubber disposed with its faces generally horizontal, said plate having a row of apertures adjacent to but spaced from an edge thereof that extends in a general direction between the sides of the U, each of the apertures being connected to said edge by a slot narrower than the diameter of the aperture and of the shanks of the clubs, and elements carried by said base and shiftable thereon laterally into positions in which they engage the ground and prop the base against tilting while the handle is upright and the base rests on the ground.

8. A golf club carrier comprising a box-like base of sheet material having upstanding, platelike ends and also means to receive and hold the ends of upstanding golf clubs, an inverted U- shaped handle having the free ends of its arms extending along said upstanding ends and rigidly secured to said base, the cross part of the U of said handle being uppermost and constituting a grip by which the base may be lifted, tilted or pulled, a holder extending between and rigidly connected to the sides of said U intermediate of their height, and carrying resilient clamping means arranged in a row along one of its side edges, in a direction between the sides of the U, to receive and yieldingly hold the shanks of clubs forced therein, an axle rod aproximately coextensive in length with and mounted on said base, with its ends terminating approximately at the planes of faces of said upstanding ends of the base, and roller means mounted on said rod between said planes of the upstanding base ends, to roll about the axis of said rod and provide a rolling support for said base when the base is tilted to that side on which said rod is mounted,

9 10 said roller means having portions adjacent each REFERENCES CITED pstandmg base The following references are of record in the 9. The carrier substantially as set forth in claim 8, and having the bottom face of said base file of thls patent approximately tangent to the periphery of said UNITED STATES PATENTS roller means, and said base ends being approxi- Number Name Date mately parallel. 2,262,298 Procter Nov. 11, 1941 2,411,965 Hartung Dec. 3, 1946 C LOYD E- BU S- 2,513,020 Haney June 27, 1950 

